Two Marines from a Camp Pendleton special operations unit will be posthumously awarded the Navy Cross, the nation’s second-highest medal for valor in combat.

Capt. Matthew Manoukian and Staff Sgt. Sky Mote were killed Aug. 10, 2012 by a rogue Afghan policeman who opened fire inside their military outpost in the Puzeh area of Sangin, Afghanistan.

Both rushed the attacker and shot back, fighting to the death to cover other Marines as they escaped with the wounded.

Mote, 27, of El Dorado, was an explosive ordnance disposal technician. Manoukian, 29, from Los Altos Hills, was team leader.

Only two other Marines in the seven-year history of Marine Corps Forces Special Operations Command have been awarded the Navy Cross. Manoukian and Mote will be among 16 Marines overall to receive the distinction for the war in Afghanistan, the 1st Marine Expeditionary Force announced Wednesday.

Maj. Gen. Mark Clark, commanding general of Marine Corps Forces Special Operations Command, will present the awards to their families Saturday during a ceremony at Camp Pendleton.

The Marines from Team 8133, 1st Marine Special Operation Battalion, had just finished a security “shura” at their base about 2 a.m. when an unknown policeman entered their tactical operations center.

The meeting with local elders and police had been held before dawn in respect for the Muslim holy month of Ramadan, when eating and drinking are not allowed in the daytime even during hot summer months in southwestern Afghanistan.

The team chief, Gunnery Sgt. Ryan Jeschke, 31, of Fairfax, Va., was escorting the policeman outside when the Afghan shot him in the back and killed him, according to a team member interviewed by U-T San Diego shortly after the attack.

The Afghan policeman sprayed AK-47 bullets from the foyer into the operations center, ripping through the thin plywood walls and critically wounding one Marine, the Marine Corps said.

Manoukian, who was working in a far corner of the room, drew his pistol and started shooting “in the face of near certain death” as he commanded the others to maneuver to safety.

“Capt. Manoukian courageously drew heavy fire upon himself, and continued to engage the enemy until he fell mortally wounded from the shooter’s overwhelming fire,” his citation says.

“His heroic and selfless actions assisted in halting the gunman’s assault and forcing him to withdraw, enabling his Marines to survive.”

Mote, who was working in an adjacent room unseen by the attacker, could have slipped away unnoticed. Instead he grabbed his M4 rifle and entered the operations room, “courageously exposing himself to a hail of gunfire in order to protect his fellow Marines.

“In his final act of bravery, he boldly engaged the gunman, now less than five meters in front of him, until falling mortally wounded,” his citation says.

The Manoukian family "is deeply honored and humbled to accept the Navy Cross on behalf of our dearly beloved son and brother,” Capt. Manoukian’s father, Socrates “Pete” Manoukian, said in a statement.

“Our Matthew’s courage and dedication inspires us on a daily basis to help others, to cherish our freedom, and to try to make a positive difference in the world,” he said.